Retaining wall spa treatment
pressure washed and ready for paint
planted wall
The front retaining walls have not been pretty for awhile. They do however hold back the hillside and since our house sits on top of that hill, I’m gonna go ahead and call that one little heroic set of walls. All that hard wall-work deserved a little pampering so I took the pressure washer (seriously, buy one) and gave it a little spa time, blowing off all the peeling paint and discovering in the process that the side retaining walls and the front ones had been poured at different times and by people with VASTLY different ideas of the definition of “quality work.”
We waffled on what color to paint the walls and ultimately decided on a basic brown, both to hide the inevitable city grime and to kind of downplay the wall altogether. We don’t want to look like a fortified battlement after all.
Once the paint went on, Beth planted the narrow beds between them and the sidewalks with Bay-native and drought-tolerant species. Oh they’re tiny now, but as they fill in they’ll further hide the wall and contribute to the lovely “wild native hillside” thing we have going on.
hellohahanarf said,
November 7, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, pretty.
huh. i never said that about a retaining wall before. good work!
Amerloc said,
November 7, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
Beautiful.
The color works, the plantings work. It just works so well.
Carol said,
November 7, 2007 @ 11:25 pm
Wow, big improvement! Good color choice for the wall–it fades into the background and lets the colorful plants take center stage.
Bob said,
November 8, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
Bumped into you blog today looking for info on garbage grinders. Stayed about an hour and really enjoyed it. Good luck on whatever else you both take on.
merideth1 said,
November 8, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
thanks all! it’s coming right along…last big front yard project: the driveway..dum, dum, DUM!
and thanks for stopping by bob! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Jennifer said,
November 10, 2007 @ 11:25 am
Just popped by for the first time today… the brown paint really makes the garden look nice. I can’t want to see pictures of the mature plants!
casacaudill said,
November 10, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
you have done such a fabulous job on making this house look like a wonderful home. i hope our front yard improvements look half as nice.
Jenny J. said,
November 10, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Nice!
Please be sure to post another shot next summer with some growth!
Lynn said,
November 11, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
Ooooo, good choice of paint. Amazing how something that seems small (compared to some of the projects y’all have taken on!) can make a major impact, eh? Can’t wait to see it all!
Margaret said,
November 11, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
It looks awesome – and the color choice was brilliant. I agree with
Lynn, sometimes small projects have a big impact.
Margaret
Jocelyn said,
November 18, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
It looks nice (as usual)
)
Happy Turkey Day ladies!